1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a technique for transmitting content over a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computer networks have been rapidly developing these days, it has become very easy to transmit some content such as a video clip or an audio file from one computer terminal to another.
However, as such content to transmit often includes sensitive confidential or personal information, there is an increasing demand for safe and secure telecommunications controls that can eliminate the risk of information leaking. Thus, in response to such a demand, various access control systems and methods have been proposed to realize safe and secure telecommunications controls.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-297063 discloses that an access control may be carried out using an ID and a password assigned to each individual user when he or she attempts to transmit some content. On the other hand, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-354067 discloses a technique for performing an access control by making a router, which is located between a server and a group of clients, decide whether to relay or discard the given content on a content basis and on a client basis. Furthermore, PCT International Application Japanese National-Phase Patent Publication No. 2005-529519 discloses a technique for performing an access control by providing an authentication field, which indicates either a mode that permits distribution to outside of a network or a mode that prohibits distribution to outside of the network, for content data.